I've been wanting to share the full story of Thor, and This is sort of his Memorial thread as well I guess.I've told the abbreviated version to a few people, But I think I want to share the full story of Thor and his Amazing success (and sad downfall) to Inspire others to rescue more dragons, because it's sure as heck worth it. So here goes:

It all Started in November 2017 and I was visiting a Repticon. I was strolling around simply looking around, not intending to buy anything. Then I Stopped at a booth, and saw probably the most saddest and pathetic looking bearded dragon I'd ever seen on for sale. He was in a tiny empty plastic spinach container with some mealworms and rotting lettuce inside it.

The dragon looked dead, was skin and bones, Lifeless and extremely sad looking. I couldn't ignore him, so I asked To simply look at him, so the lady took him out, and handed him to me. He was freezing cold and very lifeless. So I checked to see if he still was alive (because honestly he looked that dead).

And the moment I Gently flipped him over and back onto my hand again, One eye popped open and stared at me with gorgeous, pleading, and sad eyes. The other eye was crusted over and unable to open. He licked my hand and instantly snuggled up onto me. That was the moment I knew I had to Have him. The lady was surprised that he was moving and told me that that was the first time she had seen him open his eyes or move in a week. So I Made an offer on him and bought him. She told me that he had a Little problem with his legs.

While Walking back to the car he was happily snuggled into my jacket, and I got into the car and put him on the dashboard. He immediately raised his trembling head and looked up at me and at the light. And he basked. He basked and looked so happy, It probably was his first ever time basking in actual sunlight. He opened both eyes and gave me a faint happy look, and we set back home.

So I Take out a large bin for him to temporarily stay in, Set up a Basking lamp and gave him Cisco's uvb bulb. He basked all day, Just happily sitting in the light, heat, and uvb.

About a few days to a week later we take him to the vet that we had taken Cisco to a few months ago. I Had known about his leg problems because he barely could walk at all without falling on his back and getting stuck, and Thought that was the only major problem minus him being horribly emaciated. Well apparently he had many, Many more problems.

The vet told us that he was terribly emaciated, which we figured, and told us that he had severe Metabolic bone disease, and also told us that he had a huge load of pinworms and some other parasite. So he prescribed Thor with Critical care and Liquid calcium for the MBD treatment and To help regain his weight, and Panacur and some other medicine for his parasites.

Well keeping him I noticed many more problems, I Did more reading and found out that basically he had No control of his limbs at all, as if his limbs each had a different mind of it's own, and his legs basically weren't usable at all. His left eyelid was deformed and his eyes were terribly Sunken in, and he Had some sort of birth defect that caused his eye to constantly water and tear up, and then it would dry up and crust over his eye, preventing him from opening it, Then I found out that he had a severe Neurological disorder that most likely caused the limb problems and gave him zero depth perception.

So I started treatment, Medicines, lots of love, and two hours of sunlight as often as I could give him it. But there still was one problem, how was I going to help him with the Limb problems? So I did more research, and Figured I could try out doing physical therapy with him. Sounds weird, but it helped greatly. I would help him with walking and sorta move his limbs for him to show him what to do with his limbs and help him coordinate them better. I Helped assist him with walking and Moving his legs, basically giving his legs exercise and helping him get better at moving them.

Then one day while Cisco was basking in the bay window, Thor and I were around 5 feet away from Cisco and I had Thor on my lap and I was feeding him medicine, and the little dude put up a gigantic fight to not get medicine. Which was a GREAT sign.

Then, For the first time ever, he sees Cisco. Instantly his beard goes pitch black and he immediately does huge head bobs, so vigorously that his entire body jumped slightly with each head bob, and within a split second, he RAN towards Cisco. Running like a full on normal Beardie, Right at Cisco, so the little dude zoomed right next to her, and started flexing his beard and showing off at her. Which was Bloody AMAZING to see a handicapped Beardie suddenly act just like a normal one. So Cisco, slightly annoyed goes and burrows into a shoe, and Thor closely follows, this time flopping and army crawling like normal after her, so I grab him and snuggle him, happier than ever seeing that he still had it in him, just needed some motivation.

So I kept doing my daily treatment and therapy with him and he was doing WONDERFUL. I Was amazed at how amazingly he was recovering.

So a few weeks later, It's my birthday so I wish to go visit the "Rescue" where we bought him from. And I wanted to visit it. So we drove up, walked inside and were HORRIFIED to see the conditions of the animals in there, Overcrowded cages, Every cage was super dirty and Not at all correct for the animals inside and way too small. Several of the animals were very sickly. So Horrible place, we were all appalled, then we get to a small 30 gallon tank in the back, I look inside and there are three bearded dragons inside, all of them looking horribly sick, and The tank was FILTHY. There was so much dirt and poop caked onto the glass, there was nothing in the tank except for a small log, and Crushed walnut shell everywhere. No heat, no UVB, just Crushed walnut shell and filth. The people tell me that that was the cage that Thor was in. So I am horrified and appalled about the condition of the place (Don't worry, We've already reported the place multiple times). so we go back home and I give Thor a extra long snuggle, finally knowing what a hell hole that he had to live in.

So basically fast forward to a month later, Thor is doing amazing, best he's ever been, very happy and healthy. Then a month after that, I take Thor to Repticon with me, he is showing off to everyone very happy, and I see the same people whom I got Thor from, Vending at Repticon, Well I try to quickly walk by, But The lady noticed me and Wanted to see how good Thor was doing, told me I'm doing a great job, and Then she asked to hold him (What happened next was probably one of my favorite memories of Thor ever). So I slightly reluctantly give him to her, and Thor immediately recognizes who she is, goes from a happy orange beard and goes to a pitch black beard, Starts hissing at her, and Bites her right on the thumb and poops on her. He KNEW who she was and that little lizard wanted Revenge. The lady then handed him over to me again and Thor goes back to being very happy and Snuggles and falls Asleep on my shoulder.

So around a few months after that (Sometime in the beginning of April), Thor suddenly goes off of food, I figured he was just being stubborn and cranky, but a week later, Still not eating anything, I'm still doing the Daily hand feeding that I Did for every day of having him, Then Thor starts losing tons of body weight, so I know it's time for a vet visit, So I make an appointment for him on the 26th of April.

By this time in April, Thor was declining very fast, losing tons of body weight and becoming extremely skinny and sickly, Flipping onto his back almost multiple times a day. So on the early morning of April 26th I wake up Thor, flip him back onto his feet, and take him to the vet. Knowing How bad Thor was I was extremely worried about him, and The vets ran a few tests, and it wasn't so good. It turned out that Almost all of Thor's organs were shutting down and that he was likely to die within a week or two. Devastated about this news but knowing that eventually this day would come, We reluctantly opted to put him down.

So we took the box, that he was in home, Had a little funeral for him and buried him in his favorite spot to bask in when I took him outside for his sunlight treatment.

But the most important thing was that He was loved. He was given a better life, He Was like a Phoenix, He rose up from the ashes better than ever, He went from having a crappy life, to being in a home where he was loved unconditionally, a home where the snuggles, treats, and love were endless. My goal was To help him and give him a better and happier life, Hopefully I did.

He was the sweetest and best dragon Anyone could have ever had, His handicaps Didn't slow him down, but made him stronger and more determined. He was a very stubborn and determined dragon who never gave up and never stopped trying. So I didn't give up on him either. I would fight with him until he couldn't anymore.

He taught me almost everything I knew about Beardie medicine and The treatment and caring for of sickly beardies. and I thank him for that, I thank him for Still staying strong through everything.

He will never be forgotten, and always in our hearts, Thor. 💜💜💜

[Click image to enlarge][Click image to enlarge] first ever vet visit.[Click image to enlarge][Click image to enlarge] first time having sunlight treatment.[Click image to enlarge][Click image to enlarge] Basking with his Girls Daisy and Cisco.[Click image to enlarge][Click image to enlarge] Still being a happy booger.[Click image to enlarge] First time discovering the heat of Air vents.[Click image to enlarge] Escaping and Hiding under my bookshelf.[Click image to enlarge] Always snuggled into his favorite blanket. He was practically like Linus (from Peanuts) with his blanket. [Click image to enlarge] Showing off his manliness. [Click image to enlarge][Click image to enlarge] Sleeping in the most painful looking positions.[Click image to enlarge][Click image to enlarge][Click image to enlarge][Click image to enlarge][Click image to enlarge][Click image to enlarge] a Small but colorful boy.[Click image to enlarge][Click image to enlarge] Basking was one of his favorite activities.[Click image to enlarge] Impressing his toy iguana.[Click image to enlarge][Click image to enlarge][Click image to enlarge][Click image to enlarge]

Adopt a animal, Save a life.

-HippieLizards.

Last edited by HippieLizards on Thu Jul 18, 2019 9:12 pm, edited 4 times in total.

Slave to Four Beardies, one Crested gecko, one leopard gecko, a Ball Python, two Betta fish, and a Cat.(R.I.P Thor & Cisco, You two will always be in our hearts).[Click image to enlarge]

It's stories like this that give me some hope about humanity. Not how Thor was initially treated, not that his plight isn't repeated to a staggeringly sad degree in the world, but that good still exists and there are still happy endings for some of these wonderful creatures. Thanks for caring!

Aaradimian wrote:It's stories like this that give me some hope about humanity. Not how Thor was initially treated, not that his plight isn't repeated to a staggeringly sad degree in the world, but that good still exists and there are still happy endings for some of these wonderful creatures. Thanks for caring!

Aww Well I'm glad you enjoyed the story, Have a nice day!

JIMMIA wrote:

HippieLizards wrote:Thank you.

you are most certainly welcome JIMMIA sends her last love [Click image to enlarge]

Aw, he Looks really happy outside in the grass!

Slave to Four Beardies, one Crested gecko, one leopard gecko, a Ball Python, two Betta fish, and a Cat.(R.I.P Thor & Cisco, You two will always be in our hearts).[Click image to enlarge]